In 2019, North Carolina has an illegal alien population of over 410,000 persons and the fiscal burden on North Carolinians resulting from public services used by that population is enormous. The growth of the illegal alien population accounts for a significant number of the overall foreign-born population.

See the IMMIGRATION OVERVIEW tab also.

The Federation for American Immigration Reform [FAIR] estimates in its earlier report, and it is still true in 2019, that the annual fiscal burden on North Carolina taxpayers from illegal immigration is over $2.0 billion with the net cost at $1.75 billion. That equates to an annual cost of about $505 net per native-born headed household. In addition, there is a cost to the state’s economy of another $1.2 billion from remittances sent abroad. The $1.75 billion does not include the significant government cost of providing unemployment benefits and other public benefits to unemployed citizens who could be working if not for illegal immigrants being hired as replacements by unscrupulous companies.

The rapid growth of the illegal alien population prompted the state legislature to take action to deny driver’s licenses to persons without a Social Security number or valid visa. State agencies now have to verify the legal employment status of their new employees. Additionally, all one hundred counties in North Carolina have Secure Communities agreements with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that allow local law enforcement personnel to work cooperatively in immigration law enforcement. These measures are a positive response to public opinion in the state. A poll of North Carolina voters reported by National Review found that 58% “favored an enforcement-first approach to immigration reform.” An Elon University poll found 56 percent responded that “immigrants are a burden on the state because of the jobs, housing and health care they take.” This NC Civitas statewide poll question got a 78% support vote, “Do you support or oppose requiring employers to verify the legal status of job applicants through a method like E-Verify?”. Our NC General Assembly has an obligation in the 2018 short session to further undo the weakening in 2013 of our state E-Verify law, which if revised, would protect jobs for citizens instead of illegal immigrants.